OK, All About the New Toy
Posted Thursday, December 15th, 2005 by nycgadgetgirlI know, I know. I teased you by telling you I got a new toy and then I never posted about it! Sorry. I’ve been a WEE BIT BUSY this month (as in so busy I think my head may explode)!!! If I survive through mid-January, I’m going to need a vacation.
So. Anyway.
I bought a Palm TX. I considered the Life Drive, but settled on the TX because (1) it was cheaper and I’m poor, and (2) it is smaller and lighter.
I wanted something that would
- have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built in,
- get email
- not be a phone
- not have a camera
- be small and light
- work with Life Balance
- sync my contacts from Thunderbird Address Book and my calendar for Sunbird
- have a nice size/resolution screen
- edit excel spreadsheets
Although, I’d like for the email to be always on, my other requirements eliminated blackberries (hate ‘em anyway) and Treos (which are way too bulky for my tastes). I decided I only needed email to be on-demand. I also - briefly - considered Windows-based handhelds but couldn’t stand the idea of all the unwanted applications that come bundled into them.
I’d had a Palm Vx years ago and loved it, but stopped carrying it when I got in the habit of taking my laptop almost everywhere. Ever since I got Snick though, I’ve been needing new one. (I don’t take my laptop when I walk the dog and sometimes he and I stay out and about for hours.) I decided on the TX and picked one up locally. So far, I’m really happy with it except (1) there’s no way to sync with Sunbird and Address Book - which I knew before I bought it - and (2) it has this annoying habit of rebooting itself when I switch networks and then open the email or browser.
Having email on demand is fabulous. When I’m near free wi-fi (which is about 80% of the time), I can email and surf really quickly. When I’m NOT near free wi-fi, it connects via Bluetooth to my GPRS enabled phone (Samsung D500). I’m a walking PAN*!!! 
Just waiting for a good utility to sync my Mozilla stuff and I’ll be all set.
So. I won’t be away from my email for a minute while I’m driving to my sister’s for Christmas this year AND I’ll be able to surf Google Maps if we get lost.
Oh, AND I can mo-blog now! (The note that I had a new toy was my first mobile blog entry.)
Life is good.
*personal area network
December 16th, 2005 at 3:11 am
I was just reading about the TX today. It sounds very cool.
December 18th, 2005 at 11:04 am
I had a palm Vx for a long time but I stopped using it because it was cumbersome to use it for anything but a glorified Filofax. The screen stunk and the battery always seemed to die at the worst possible time. I also went through a bunch of service cycles where the unit was replaced and replaced between crashes. Since I’m not an IT person I can live without email contact for hours or even days if necessary. I love being in contact, and I love the idea of blogging from ‘wherever’, but not enough to squint into a tiny screen. My sexy 17″ Mac Powerbook with Airport fits nicely in the skinny Fjallraven Kanken that I am almost never without.
December 19th, 2005 at 12:05 am
hmmm… so David, tell us how you REALLY feel about Palms.
btw, my TX screen isn’t tiny <pout>
December 19th, 2005 at 8:00 am
hmmm, I did kinda sh*t all over your parade, huh? Sorry. I have toyed with the idea of getting another palm or palm-style gadget, but I’ll probably wait until a find a really nifty one that has a phone too. In order to justify carrying around a new toy on my ‘bat belt’ something has to go!
Enjoy your new toy.
December 19th, 2005 at 11:03 am
David - no apology necessary
There are some Palm OS smartphones, but I haven’t found one yet that qualifies as “really nifty.” Samsung pre-announced a GSM Palm OS clamshell a couple years ago, but never released it.
December 23rd, 2005 at 10:27 am
I too love the TX?..
I have used “Palms” on and off for a few years. First a Handspring Visor that I had to give back when the job finished, then a Treo 180g phone/Palm combo. I got tired of the small, low res screen and the graffiti had started to misbehave. Then I strayed and got an Orange SPV C500 (aka HTC Typhoon) Windows
mobile phone - don’t like it much but it works, is small and I can check train times and email on it when I don?t have my TX.
Next it was a second hand Tungsten T. Pretty nice but the digitiser had problems. A month or so back I got some cash for a job I did and blew part of it on a TX. Best gadget I’ve ever had! It works so well, simple WiFi connection at home (no free hotspots where I usually am
!) and Bluetooth via the phone when out and about.
I have also found a tendency to reboot ? usually when I select the mail feature. It could well be after swapping networks, I do that a lot, but I haven?t tried to pin it down. Not a major problem so far. In fact the Tungsten T would reboot all the time for no apparent reason ? that did get to be a pain.
After using the Treo for a while, I decided that I preferred a really small phone for everyday use and a seperate PDA to carry when I might actually need it. As I said, the phone can do email and WAP, which is enough for weekends and leisure time.
Rgrds
Peter